Mythology and Medicine

Since before I began medical school, I have been interested in the two symbols of the profession: the caduceus and the staff of Asclepius.

The caduceus is probably the more familiar symbol: two snakes entwined around a winged staff. Mythologically this is the symbol of Mercury/Hermes, messenger of the gods, and not really a healer. I've heard it is the usual medical symbol because of an on-a-whim decision of a bookbinder to stamp the spines of medical texts with it.

The staff of Asclepius, however, is a single serpent twined around an unwinged staff. It is argued that this is the correct symbol, because Asclepius was a healer, a son of Apollo (who was a healer in his own right), who was advised in healing by a snake, symbol of wisdom. The snake insisted on talking with Asclepius at eye level, so Asclepius held out his staff. The snake climbed it, and the two met face to face.

However, what fascinates me is that Hermes was the god of boundaries, helping travelers have safe journeys. One of his epithets is "Psychopompos," conveyer of souls, a word still used today to describe those who guide the souls of the dead safely to the underworld. Some use this point to argue that the caduceus is a devastatingly wrong symbol for medicine, but I have to disagree. Shouldn't part of all medicine involve guiding the dying to their rest?

For myself, I take them both as valid symbols of the profession.

(And in an interesting footnote, Asclepius was raised by Chiron, a renouned centaur healer, whose name bears an eerie resemblance to Charon.)